Born in Beijing, Ai Weiwei grew up in difficult circumstances; his father Ai Qing – a poet, was persecuted and exiled to a western province by the Chinese Communist government. This happened during the Anti-Rightist movement, which was campaign during 1957 that was a reaction against the Hundred Flowers Campaign which had promoted pluralism of expression and criticism of the government. Qing was persecuted after defending Ding Ling and was then accused of “rightism“.
Din Ling was a woman placed under house arrest in Shanghai however, she escaped and made her way to Yan’an. There she became one of the most influential figures in Yan’an cultural circles.
After the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, Ai Qing was hailed as a great national poet.
“It’s powerful only because someone thinks it’s powerful and invests value in the object”
– Ali Weiwei
One of Ai Weiwei’s most notorious pieces “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn” incorporates what Ai has called a “cultural readymade” as a big inspiration to him was Marcel Duchamp’s “readymades” which caused Ai to develop great appreciation towards his work.
In his piece, Ai drops a 2,000 year old ceremonial urn. Despite it’s considerable value, it also symbolic and cultural worth. The Han dynasty (206 BC – 202 CE) was considered a defining period in Chinese civilisation, so for Ai to deliberately allow this priceless artifact to shatter at his feet was the equivalent to him throwing away the inheritance of cultural meaning about China.
This piece sparked outrage with some people as it was seen as a careless act, to simply destroy something with such high value. Some people calling him out for doing so, however Ai simply countered with “Chairman Mao used to tell us that we can only build a new world f we destroy the old one” which refers to the widespread destruction of antiques during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and the instruction that in order to build a new society one must destroy the si jiu (Four Olds) : old customs, habits, culture and ideas. Therefore, when Ai let’s go of the urn, he let’s go of the cultural and social structures that impart value.
During the beginning of 2016, Ai created a new piece that caught a lot of attention. Throughout the previous year, he visited Lesbos which was renowned for a gateway for refugees into Europe. There, he got his hands on a total of 14,000 discarded life jackets after the authorities provided them.
Once he had the life jackets, he went to Berlin and strung up all the vibrant orange jackets on the pillars of the Konzerthaus venue overnight. In 2015, over 1 million migrants arrived in Europe by the sea routes, then in January 2016 more than 400 had perished in their desperate attempt to get across.
Ai’s piece in New York – “Arch” is one of a series of pieces scattered around, the series being based around refugees and immigrants.
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